Why Katriona Tamin From Law & Order: SVU Looks So Familiar

Detective Katriona "Kat" Tamin (Jamie Gray Hyder) appears in 36 episodes of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" during her time on the NBC series from 2019 to 2021 (via IMDb). Tamin lends her skills to the elite SVU team, often thriving when she puts herself in tenuous situations and showing that she is ferociously competent (albeit a bit reckless) when it comes to the pursuit of justice, especially when she goes undercover. Unconcerned with her own personal well-being for most of her time in the field as an SVU detective, she is quick to loathe the criminals she is hunting down and goes way out of her way and breaks protocols when it comes to their apprehension. So, yes, she may be a bit of a hothead in the field, but it's hard to deny she gets results. Although incredibly enthusiastic about her work, Tamin often admonishes her fellow detectives when they act in an unprofessional manner towards victims and is often the youthful, contemporary voice in the room who helps inform her colleagues about present-day issues that prove relevant to cases. 

Tamin's last appearance in "Law & Order: SVU" is the Season 23 episode "Never Turn Your Back on Them," which sees her almost killed and causes her to doubt her future with the SVU squad. Following the jarring events of the episode, she resolves to quit the organization in order to help victims more directly. However, why does the actor who plays Tamin look so familiar, and where have we seen her before?

Besides appearing as both an agent (and occasional antagonist) of the law as Katriona Tamin, Jamie Gray Hyder tapped into her inner wolf on HBO's "True Blood." The world of "True Blood" is set in a world where supernatural creatures like vampires, werewolves, faeries, and werepanthers walk amongst us mere humans. On the Season 5 premiere, "Turn! Turn! Turn!," Hyder is introduced as Danielle, one of the werewolves who is part of a local pack. After her brief introduction, Hyder goes on to appear in 10 more episodes from 2012 to 2013, according to her IMDb page. 

Hyder's character of Danielle is a die-hard believer in the ways of werewolf society and often aligns herself with the current pack master. Unfortunately for her, two of her pack masters are ineffective or downright evil in their leadership. Marcus Bozeman (Dan Buran) suffers from some anger issues, and J.D. Carson (Louis Herthum) believes an alliance with the ancient and sadistic Russell Edgington (Denis O'Hare) is needed for the survival of the werewolves. Eventually, leadership of the pack falls to Alcide Herveaux (Joe Manganiello), and Danielle is last seen taking a werewolf child into their pack after a dust-up with Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell).

Before appearing in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," Jamie Gray Hyder's character Lucia Solano is on the other side of law enforcement on the 2013 television show "Graceland" (via IMDb). Appearing in 12 episodes, Solano is the sister of a well-connected drug dealer. The USA program follows several undercover government agents from different organizations who take up residence in a seized beach home in southern California, but their undercover work and investigations often take a toll on the agents' mental health and well-being.

Lucia is the sister of Carlito Solano (Erik Valdez), who runs a massive drug operation that earns the ire of the law enforcement members of "Graceland." Lucia eventually wishes to break free from the brutal life of drug dealing and becomes entangled with undercover agent Johnny Tuturro (Manny Montana). In an August 2014 interview with TV Goodness, Hyder said of her time on the show, "My experience has been amazing. The whole cast and crew [are] so welcoming, so warm. I get to work primarily with Manny and Erik, and the two of them are wonderful to work with. Erik and I are like brother and sister in real life. And it's really been a positive experience."

Jamie Gray Hyder also appears as several minor characters in "Chicago Med," "NCIS," "Rizzoli & Isles," "Bones," and "Criminal Minds," per her IMDb profile. Not only does Hyder appear in these shows, she also has a role on Marvel's short-lived "Inhumans" series as Jen, a marijuana grower. Jen is just a normal human being in a show about a nigh-immortal super-powered royal family, and she becomes very close to Karnak (Ken Leung), a member of the Inhumans' royal court, when he aimlessly wanders into her secret operation. 

The growers who work with Jen are paranoid about this intrusion, but she is able to assuage their doubts. She also becomes romantically involved with the aforementioned Inhuman. Unfortunately, their relationship cannot last, and the two reluctantly part ways. Appearing on three episodes of "Inhumans," the character of Jen helps bring some personality and humanity to Karnak.